What’s Trending: Astounding Marketing Strategies of the Future

August 12, 2016

We’re over halfway through 2016 now. Back-to-school merchandise is going on clearance, nudging out the last of the summer pool toys. You know what time it is…

It’s time for 2017 predictions articles. Look for a trickle in the next few weeks that will become a veritable flood by December.

There’s nothing wrong with looking to the future. After all, the future is notorious for becoming the present and the past, usually faster than we’re comfortable with. As sophisticated marketers, we need to stay ahead of the curve.

This week’s roundup of marketing content features some truly futuristic thinking. None of these posts are predictions posts per se, though: They’re more practical than that, more concerned with what you can do with your marketing right now that will make everyone else think you come from the future.

Read on to learn a new model for content marketing, how “context marketing” can enhance personalization, and more.

Learn how content marketers can redefine an “active user,” and take inspiration from traditional publishing to help prove ROI, with this article from HubSpot Principal Marketing Strategist Sam Mallikarjunan.

Marketing can do more than create demand for products and services. As this SlideShare from marketing blogger Natalia Hatalska shows, marketing can entertain, improve people’s lives, and even help save the planet.

Personalization has been an effective tool for marketers, but you can only personalize so much without becoming off-putting. Conglomotron LLC’s Rebecca Lieb explores how to increase relevancy in a way that avoids the creep factor.

Lack of time is one of top 5 challenges for 51% of content marketers, while 50% face the challenge of producing truly engaging content. Not to worry marketers. Lesley Vos has found different tactics to become more productive and efficient, as well as optimize our work to achieve better results.

A persona is only valuable insofar as it helps marketers understand how a buyer makes a purchase decision. Buyer Persona Institute CEO Adele Revella identifies three ways you can make your personas a more useful, relevant tool.

Marketers know the quickest way to a customer’s heart is providing value. But how and when you offer value could mean more than what exactly you offer. Bestselling author Dr. Robert Cialdini explains three major motivators in this 20-minute video.

Sevillana Publishing, LLC’s Michelle Lowery starts this post with an admission that her headline is hyperbolized to provoke reader action. The rest of the post keeps that refreshing honesty, offering practical advice for creating pages that move your audience to act.

Fans of flat-packed Swedish furniture, rejoice! This fun infographic from LookBookHQ will tell you exactly how many meatballs and Allen wrenches Ikea sells every year. But along with the trivia, you will find solid marketing advice you won’t have to assemble yourself.